Book excerpt: The Java programming language is widely used for deploying applications on most types of computer systems. Although many Java programs are written for portability, writing Windows-specific Java programs can enhance the performance of multimedia and Windows-specific APIs. This book offers guidelines for determining when to use Windows-specific APIs and code. It also helps you divide applications into portable Java and platform-specific Java modules both to maximize future code reuse on all platforms and to take advantage of Windows-specific APIs for appropriate applications. Java Programming for Windows shows you how to * Use the Application Foundation Classes (AFC) library, the Windows Foundation Classes (WFC) library, and the portable Java class library for reading Internet newsgroups * Build custom desk- and Webtop environments in Java * Employ JScript to access Web page components and to interact with Java applets * Access JScript from Java applets * Apply the Microsoft DirectX/Direct3D APIs in Java applications * Find a complete Web server written in Java, extended to provide XML support Software on CD-ROM The accompanying CD-ROM contains all of the example components developed in the book plus the Together/J Whiteboard Edition from Object International. * Provides both a tutorial approach and useful Java software for a wide range of technologies for exploiting the Windows platform * Introduces the important Extended Markup Language (XML) technology by developing tools for XML and Microsoft's CDF, and a Java Web server that supports XML is developed in the book